Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Has $320,000 Stock Holdings in Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. reduced its stake in shares of Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,628 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Nucor were worth $320,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Nucor by 2.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,427,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,724,117,000 after acquiring an additional 326,181 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Nucor by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,861,945 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $883,732,000 after purchasing an additional 74,569 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Nucor by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 3,456,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $519,648,000 after purchasing an additional 571,682 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,160,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $341,580,000 after purchasing an additional 67,974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,758,753 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,282,000 after buying an additional 358,721 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.48% of the company’s stock.

Nucor Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $124.40 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $144.48. The company has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. Nucor Co. has a 52-week low of $112.25 and a 52-week high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $7.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 8.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

NUE has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $156.00 price objective (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Stephen D. Laxton sold 4,712 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.53, for a total transaction of $798,825.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 82,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,923,837.96. This trade represents a 5.43 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total value of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,499,436. This represents a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 29,680 shares of company stock valued at $4,773,724. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses.